Thieves dug up the grave of Cyprus's former President Tassos Papadopoulos during the night and stole his corpse from inside the coffin in a crime that shocked the east Mediterranean island yesterday.
State TV interrupted normal programming throughout the day to broadcast live reports and reaction to the desecration.
A member of Mr Papadopoulos's personal guard found the grave open when he went to light a vigil candle at around 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) as he does every morning, state radio reported.
Police cordoned off the area but the spoil heap from the nocturnal digging was clearly visible and earth had been sprayed all over the headstone.
Police said that the grave robbery was "deliberate and carefully planned" as the perpetrators had taken precautions to cover their tracks.
They said it would have taken three or even four people to remove the heavy stone grave slab, but added that they had no immediate idea of the motive.
Police issued a statement later saying that three people were being questioned in connection with the incident, but that no arrest has yet been made.
Mr Papadopoulos made political enemies during his lifetime, but leaders from across the spectrum united in condemning the crime which came the day before a memorial service was due to be held to mark the first anniversary of his death.
The Papadopoulos family said that the service at St Nicholas church in Deftera would go ahead as planned.
"This unholy act by robbers has caused sadness and anger but it cannot wipe out or bury the legacy of Tassos Papadopoulos," a family statement said.
"Wherever his remains may be, his voice can still be heard during these difficult times for our national cause."
Mr Papadopoulos was president from 2003 to 2008 and led Greek Cypriots in rejecting a UN plan to reunify the divided island in a 2004 referendum.
Turkish Cypriots backed the plan in a simultaneous vote, but the plan failed and a divided island joined the European Union the same year.
Mr Papadopoulos was defeated in the February 2008 election by current President Demetris Christofias of the communist AKEL party, who relaunched UN-brokered talks with the Turkish Cypriots in the face of persistent criticism from Mr Papadoulos's centre-right Diko party.
But both two parties were united yesterday in expressing their outrage.
Diko leader Marios Garoyan condemned what he called a "heinous and terrible crime", while Christofias spoke out against a "despicable crime that causes shock and aversion".
"This truly is an act of barbarism that shames our culture," the President told reporters from Brussels where he is attending an EU summit.
Mr Christofias sent his "sympathy and support" to the Papadopoulos family and instructed the police to "exhaust all leads to solve this case."